Mad Dogs and an Englishman

In 1976, at age 50, Derek L. Jensen of London joined the Americans on a 4,250-mile (6838-km) bicycle ride across the USA to celebrate their bicentennial. The trail from Oregon to Virginia, and the event itself, were named Bikecentennial '76. In 1982, Derek and a Dutch friend from Bikecentennial crossed South America over the Andes, from Lima, Peru, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Two years later he rode his bicycle from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Anchorage, Alaska, along a route that crossed the Arctic Circle. Mad Dogs and an Englishman is a narrative of those three arduous journeys. Derek, a gregarious Cockney, recalls chance meetings with eccentric locals and fellow cyclists, several of whom changed his life. He describes exotic locations, along with all the exhilarations and difficulties of international bicycle touring. The title refers to a dangerous encounter in a remote setting on one of the tours.